The present invention relates to an improved frame assembly for doors, windows and the like having opposed inner and outer skins with foam core material between the skins and a central panel, preferably a glass central panel. In its preferred embodiment, the present invention provides for a plurality of glass panels to obtain an enhanced insulating effect, and to a construction providing for an enhanced seal between the central panel and the skins holding the central panel in place. It also provides a frame assembly in which the opposed inner and outer skins are of similar construction such that both the inner and outer skins may be molded in the same mold.
There has been an increased demand for fabricated window and door frames with improved weather and thermal characteristics and increased durability. Doors and windows that are all wood tend to rot with time and prolonged exposure to the elements. Wood also exhibits a high degree of expansion and contraction which makes sizing and operation of the assembly difficult. Both wood and metal frames are also poor insulators when compared to certain plastics, foams and glass reinforced resin products. The seal between the frame and the framed material is also important to an efficient high quality door or window frame assembly. Poor seals provide inferior vapor barriers between the interior and exterior of the frame. In multiple pane windows and doors a poor seal will allow moisture to infiltrate into the spaces between the panes and condense which reduces the thermal efficiency of the assembly and makes it aesthetically unpleasing.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a door and window frame assembly which is relatively lightweight and thermally efficient.
A prior frame assembly for doors and windows is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,951, of which I am a co-inventor. Under the invention disclosed in that patent, the frame assembly includes a first skin and a second skin in opposed relationship with each other and having a cavity defined therebetween in which a foamable insulating material is placed. The foamable insulating material fills the cavity and surrounds the edge of the central panel to form a weather resistent seal between the frame and the edge of the central panel, which central panel will frequently be multiple panes of glass.
Under the present invention, the construction is such as to provide a sealing chamber for the central panel separate from the cavity containing the foamable insulating material thereby permitting utilization of a separate sealing material for sealing the central panel than is used for the insulating core between the two skins.
Accordingly, it is a further object of this invention to provide a frame assembly having an excellent seal between the central panel and the frame while still permitting the utilization of thermally efficient core material for use between the skins.
It is desirable that the frame assemblies simulate the appearance of wood. My U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,540 describes a compression molded door assembly with a foam core which simulates wood. The molds for forming compression molded skins having a wood appearance similar to the texture and graining of a wood door are extremely expensive to manufacture. The design of my new frame assembly for doors and windows is such as to permit a single mold to be used for producing both the inner skin and the outer skin while still permitting both interior and exterior surfaces of the doors and windows to have an appearance simulating wood.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a door and window frame assembly in which the inner and outer skins have a configuration sufficiently similar to permit them to be molded in the same mold.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a door and window frame assembly having such similar inner and outer skins which will readily accept different thicknesses of glass as well as single or multiple paned glass, including two or three panes for the central panel portion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frame assembly for doors, windows and the like in which the central panel portion, whether it be single or multiple panes of glass or other material, is effectively sealed in the frame and which permits such effective seal to be made using inner and outer skins for the frame which were manufactured on the same mold and in so doing to keep the sealant for the central panel separate from the foam insulating material in the cavity defined by the first and second skins.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a further review of the following specification, drawings and claims.